EY Growth DNA Model for family business
With more than 100 years of experience supporting the world’s most entrepreneurial families, we understand that family enterprise owners face unique challenges as they balance their ambition to grow with the effort to build the family legacy.

What EY can do for you
Drawing on the knowledge we’ve gained by working with family enterprises over the decades, we have identified the success factors for family enterprise growth — what we call the Growth DNA Model for family enterprise. We use the Growth DNA Model to pinpoint the issues and areas of focus that will help family enterprises grow and build a long-term, intergenerational legacy.
Our model supports both the personal and company performance agenda of family enterprise leaders, and aims to help you succeed for generations. We use the model as a framework to guide issue-based conversations on topics that matter most to you and your family enterprise:
Purpose and context
Fundamental to the success of generational families is a common sense of purpose and shared values, which are adopted by successive generations to preserve the family legacy. Family values build a foundation for family unity and play a key role in managing expectations and setting out the principles that guide family members in how they interact with each other, both inside and outside of the family enterprise. Learn more.
Growth and innovation
Sustaining the growth and profitability of the family enterprise is increasingly challenging in the face of a rapidly changing market environment driven by technology and disruption. It is also increasingly important as the family grows and the profit is shared among family members. Learn more.
Life and legacy
As families grow in number and complexity, a key challenge for a family enterprise is how to plan for succession and implement a governance framework that enables the best decisions to be made to support a sustainable future. Learn more.
Capital and security
The family operating model is the link between the family’s strategic intent and ability to deliver on that. Within this framework, family business owners need to consider how to manage their assets and protect the family’s capital in a way that achieves operational efficiencies, manages risk and protects the family legacy for future generations. Learn more.
When you’re ready to talk, we’re ready to listen
Using our Growth DNA Model as a guide, we ask the right questions – and we listen to the answers. Drawing on our decades of experience working as trusted advisors to leading family enterprises, we work with you to address the issues and concerns your enterprise faces.
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